8 Liners on the Rise in Falfurrias

In Brooks County, the city of Falfurrias is being called the “Little Vegas” of South Texas. 8-liner game rooms are booming there.

While other counties, like Duval and San Patricio, have in recent months shut down their game rooms, the city of Falfurrias is open for business and making money off of them.

There are some 13 game rooms, with numerous machines inside. The City collects a fee of $1,000 per machine, per game room. The City Clerk said the City collected over $300,000 in permit fees.

Despite the fact that everyone acknowledges the existence of the game rooms, there is always a shroud of secrecy surrounding what goes on inside of them. Nobody wanted to talk on camera, and one man was even told by others not to speak to our Kiii News crew.

That man was seen at three game rooms in a row, the same three that our Kiii News crew visited on South St. Mary’s Street. He appeared to be either shutting the game rooms down or acting as a lookout, letting the other game rooms know the media was on their way; and once word got out that Kiii News was in town, sure enough, the game rooms shut down and would not let our reporters and photographers inside.

When asked what the money collected from the 8-liner game rooms was used for, Falfurrias City Clerk Noel Bernal said, “At the moment, we don’t have that, how can I say, set aside for any particular funding activity. It’s just part of our general fund.”

At their Wednesday meeting, the Falfurrias City Council plans to discuss a proposed moratorium regarding the 8-liner game rooms, essentially ending any further permits to open and operate the game rooms from being issued.

Remember, the game rooms are illegal in the state of Texas if they make cash payouts, thus becoming gambling establishments. They are only allowed to operate legally when the machines are used for amusement purposes only.